Valve/Bethesda announce paid modding for Skyrim, more games to follow

[belenbelen]

https://www.change.org/p/valve-remove-the-paid-content-of-the-steam-workshop

 

not sure if it gonna work. i dont trust change site at all. but worth a try.

[Darthmorpheus]

What I will say, however, is that many mod authors have mods on the Nexus and on the Skyrim Workshop, some of whom already have paid mods on the Workshop. I've taken a quick look at the comments on those paid file pages and some of the things being said are horrific. While I'm sure no one is shocked by that, this is the internet after all, simply looking at it reminds me of one of the main reasons we do what we do here. We moderate. We try to fence off a little piece of the internet where your actions have consequences, and with that in mind, if we see anyone attacking or abusing mod authors here because they have paid mods up on the Workshop you'll be gone. Instantly. With no warning.

 

 

l must say l'm one of those big bad people, l love skyrim and these modders l'v given money to some but l will not be forced to pay for there work, WORK if thay fill this way stop modding, your love of modding is gone and has been replaced buy greed.

[Brasscatcher]

In response to post #24575944.

Natterforme wrote:

I freaking NEW you were sending me to a TB video before I even copied the link. :D

[keithinhanoi]

In Dark One's extremely insightful and prophetical post last month, he pondered this:

How many mods on the Nexus use assets made by other mod authors? How many are made better by this? Such assets are used with the express permission of the creators of those assets. If a mod author came to you and asked if he could use some of your work in their mod that they were planning to sell for $5, would you feel more or less inclined to give him that permission? Would you, perhaps rightly, ask for a cut of the proceeds, a revenue share of your own? If you're one of those great authors who releases your mods freely for others to make use of in their mods, or a modder's resource developer, are you going to think about revisiting all your permissions in light of money entering the modding community? Are you still thinking about being so generous with your work?

 

How many mods have been developed by a team of mod authors? Lots of people working together to develop something amazing. Look at Nehrim or Falskaar, two epic, highly rated mods made by extensive groups of modders. I think a lot of us will have said at one point or another, either about those mods or about others, "I'd definitely pay for this". And my god, there are so many mods out there that are so good, so professional, so well done that yes, I'd pay for them in an instant! I mean, once you get SkyUI you don't ever want to think about going back to the way it was before again, right? But how are you going to sort out who gets what from selling such mods? We get lots of drama now, without any money changing hands, over permissions and credits, I don't even want to think how horrible it would be to try and sort out such issues when money is involved. That's a lawsuit waiting to happen.

 

There's no need to name names, it is a fact that a number of the initial set of paid Skyrim mods now available on Steam Workshop make use of other people's work. Models, textures, scripting functions, translations, etc.

 

Valve thought of this, and so they allow a paid mod uploader to add Contributors, as explained on the Steam Workshop's web page explaining paid user content.

 

However, I don't see any evidence that there's an vetting process for mods uploaded as paid content. Valve's approach is not pro-active, but rather user-dependent, by way of a DCMA Takedown Notice form that anyone can use.

 

This form is a bit scary, as it makes it clear that people can be liable for damages if they "knowingly" make a false infringement claim. But I wonder who actually handles the burden of proof?

 

Further to that, if someone takes ("steals") a mod freely available here on Nexus and then uploads it as paid user content on the Steam Workshop, will DCMA Takedown requests be ignored if the original mod author hasn't included a clear written copyright notice? And how is it handled if a mod author has used the work / resources of others with permission - but that permission was only given while the mod using those resources was given freely, and no permission was secured again before the mod was uploaded as paid user content.

 

And then, even after securing permissions, if a user has opted to use Valve's add Contributors feature to share any revenue, what happens with contributors who do not have Steam user account (and do not wish to have one, for that matter)? How will they receive what is due to them?

 

I see this all being very very murky and unclear.

[InfinityProject]

I feel as if they just added a big DONATE button it could fix a lot of problems with the program, I feel mods themselves should be free but in some way the mod authors that work their tail off for the love of this game should be given at least something for their hard work. Instead of attacking Valve directly we need to find solutions that can benefit both party's.

 

[belenbelen]

In response to post #24575764. #24575884, #24576014, #24576019, #24576029 are all replies on the same post.

dinofinder wrote:

CaedesAposis wrote: So what prevented you from using the donate button on this website previously? Hmmm?

Explosive196 wrote: Then feel free to donate to the author. Nobody should be forced to pay for a mod.

freedom613 wrote: I must agree with Caedes. We as a community share the same amount of blame as Valve and Bethesda. If we donated more often, then the modders would not risk being ostracised by the community and would keep their mods free.

Reaper0021 wrote: Seriously there has been a "donate" button here for ages. I've given. You set yourself up for that question.

ignorance at its best. you know how to mod skyrim in the most complicated ways but not heard of donate button? i hate humans.

[engrall]

Bit disappointing as I've just started getting into mods for skyrim

 

It does make sense to monetize from a moders standpoint, some of these mods seem to take months to fully build and as a content creator they deserve some kind of pay off. Its disappointing some may strip content or completely remove things to put up on steam but its there creations

 

One major issue to me is people releasing unfinished content as payed, which they will try to do in time. Also pricing seems a bit odd to me, how will a mod like say Falskaar compare to a weapon recolour

Also what happens if something as big and crucial as SkyUi become monetized?

 

So is it a 20-25% cut? Doesn't seem much when the prices are from $0.20 to $5

Also fave so far is "I AM RICH" which is under review for $99.99! :D

[eightoneone]

Since Valve has declared war on this site, I've decided to do my bit and turn off ad-blocker. I don't like some of this site's stances, but better the devil I've made peace with than the devil actively trying to suck the soul from a vibrant, longstanding community.

[XIIIRoxas13]

In response to post #24576169.

InfinityProject wrote:

This...all of this is correct

[Durian10]

In response to post #24571614. #24572234, #24572374, #24572469, #24572589, #24572669, #24572829, #24572854, #24572864, #24572984, #24572994, #24573004, #24573029, #24573229, #24573324, #24573399, #24573439, #24573784, #24573939, #24574029, #24574129, #24574984, #24575109, #24575614, #24575844, #24575849, #24575939 are all replies on the same post.

KaiserDeathIV wrote:

speash wrote: Signed

ShwayNorris wrote: Signed

Kerros wrote: Signed, thank you for the link

zzjay wrote: Will do tomorrow..cant open from phone :(.

I doubt it'll help...we can simply not buy em.

groupthinker1984 wrote: Way too soon for this kind of knee jerk reaction.

I agree that this COULD be absolutely disastrous. Or it could be wonderful. Or somehow both at the same time.

MrSpanky wrote: signed. passed the 7500 mark

Rigmor wrote: Signed

Ultrametal wrote: This means nothing to Valve, they just gonna discourage people from making mods, since anyone can steal the idea and sell it with a different color.

softail4life wrote: Signed...thank you

Mindprobe24 wrote: Signed (8305)

shaithlis wrote: Signed

jradik wrote: signed

popcorn71 wrote: Sites not loading. Too many people trying to sing?

BFNord wrote: and signed. and forwarded the link to a few others. f*#@ that noise.

StackEmHigh wrote: Signed.

akkalat85 wrote: Signing...

popcorn71 wrote: Signed.

danjal wrote: Frankly, I'm not deadset against paid mods.

What I would demand is that Valve gets its ass in gear and does some quality control/assurance...
Not to mention, if I'd pay for a mod, then I would want the mod to work - which means that Steam Workshop needs to start providing adequate tools and support there aswell.

Untill such a time as that starts happening - they do not deserve this financial split.

Mindprobe24 wrote: 8,741 supporters, comme on people! SPREAD!

bloodwolf13 wrote: Signed and deleted all mods from the Valve, I was going to buy Farcry4 from there but now No way are they going to get another Dime from me.

derek6688 wrote: Signed. (9,584)

deadblood01 wrote: signed and shared

jradik wrote: 10,000 signature milestone

badiyee85 wrote: signed

guiaugu132 wrote: 10,232

starfis wrote: Signed, 10,284.

Signed